My favorite parts of my best friend Sarah's trip to Scotland were cupcake trips, Malteser tricks, wedding dress shopping, old Scottish men in kilts, hats, masks, hitchhiking, castle weddings, peeing, ice cream, train friends and IIIIIIAAAAANNNNNN. Some of these seem obvious, like cupcakes and men in kilts, while others, like peeing and OLD men in kilts are less so. This is the world Sarah and I inhabit, though, and there are exceptions to every rule.
Please note that just now I thought someone was walking up the stairs in my flat but the banging continued much longer than a staircase would. Am I startled? No. This is just part of living in a residence that has actually been turned into at least 4 separate collections of flatmates. Hopefully they are all taking their trash out this week, because the area by the stairwell is really beginning to become unpleasant. Also, while I am off topic, I am enjoying the tv show Community more than I thought I would, thanks to the Abed character...And I have beaten Branson at Settlers of Catan 4 out of the last 6 times. Lastly, on the site I watch tv on, an ad just popped up saying: ANSWER TO WIN A GREEN CARD TO THE USE-Who is the US President? followed by pictures of George W Bush, Obama and Hilary Clinton.
Sarah got in on Thursday and I met her at the Edinburgh Airport. I had gotten her a ridiculous plaid viking hat, complete with red faux velvet horns and orange beribboned braids, which I planned to present to her while smiling and hugging her hello. Instead, I stampeded across the area around the baggage claim wearing the hat so that the first sight she had of me was a bouncing plaid horned attacker. She loved it. The guy at the help desk looked incredibly awkward since we met up two feet in front of him. We dropped off her luggage at the station in the city and headed to lunch at Whiski's. We were not even out of the train station when I turned around to find her wearing the kind of mask that (reportedly) my Gramma wears around babies and Asians wear in subways. I recognize the inappropriateness of this comment. It is not my own but I cannot state the original source. This swine flu mask coupled with myself in the Viking hat drew enough attention, but being who we are, it felt oddly normal and most of the attention was positive, such as people shouting at us: Hey SARS isn't here, ok?! I introduced Sarah to haggis for the first time, stacked atop tatties and neeps in a beautiful display of the offul that it is. It was delicious. She was able to say to me "have some more haggis!" in a context where it was completely understandable, and that doesn't happen anywhere but Scotland. After lunch, we made the trek up to the castle-not paying to go inside of course since that's not our style, but taking enough pictures that we may as well have. In the midst of this, all I had to hear sarah say was “made with fresh double cream??” and I was sold. Ice cream truck right outside the castle and that lard/fresh double cream was heavenly. For the first time in my life, I was the one looking on while the other ended up with ice cream on her clothes, face and in her hair all thanks to struggling to keep her horns on. And the weather was perfect. We made it back to St Andrews in time for a beautiful sunset from out on the pier and grocery shopping at Tesco for a DELICIOUS homemade curry dinner in my kitchen followed by the learning the incredible talent of blowing on a Malteser with your head tilted backward so that it hovered just over your face. I succeeded and Sarah…tried hard. It was hilarious. I think there are still stray Maltesers to be found. To be continued.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Sarah Comes to Scotland
My favorite parts of my best friend Sarah's trip to Scotland were cupcake trips, Malteser tricks, wedding dress shopping, old Scottish men in kilts, hats, masks, hitchhiking, castle weddings, peeing, ice cream, train friends and IIIIIIAAAAANNNNNN. Some of these seem obvious, like cupcakes and men in kilts, while others, like peeing and OLD men in kilts are less so. This is the world Sarah and I inhabit, though, and there are exceptions to every rule.
Please note that just now I thought someone was walking up the stairs in my flat but the banging continued much longer than a staircase would. Am I startled? No. This is just part of living in a residence that has actually been turned into at least 4 separate collections of flatmates. Hopefully they are all taking their trash out this week, because the area by the stairwell is really beginning to become unpleasant. Also, while I am off topic, I am enjoying the tc show Community more than I thought I would, thanks to the Abed character...And I have beaten Branson at Settlers of Catan 4 out of the last 6 times. Lastly, on the site I watch tv on, an ad just popped up saying: ANSWER TO WIN A GREEN CARD TO THE USA-Who is the US President? followed by pictures of George W Bush, Obama and Hilary Clinton.
Sarah got in on Thursday and I met her at the Edinburgh Airport. I had gotten her a ridiculous plaid viking hat, complete with red faux velvet horns and orange beribboned braids, which I planned to present to her while smiling and hugging her hello. Instead, I stampeded across the area around the baggage claim wearing the hat so that the first sight she had of me was a bouncing plaid horned attacker. She loved it. The guy at the help desk looked incredibly awkward since we met up two feet in front of him. We dropped off her luggage at the station in the city and headed to lunch at Whiski's. We were not even out of the train station when I turned around to find her wearing the kind of mask that (reportedly) my Gramma wears around babies and Asians wear in subways. I recognize the inappropriateness of this comment. It is not my own but I cannot state the original source. This swine flu mask coupled with myself in the Viking hat drew enough attention, but being who we are, it felt oddly normal and most of the attention was positive, such as people shouting at us: Hey SARS isn't here, ok?! I introduced Sarah to haggis for the first time, stacked atop tatties and neeps in a beautiful display of the offul that it is. It was delicious. She was able to say to me "have some more haggis!" in a context where it was completely understandable, and that doesn't happen anywhere but Scotland. After lunch, we made the trek up to the castle-not paying to go inside of course since that's not our style, but taking enough pictures....
PLEASE NOTE: THIS POST WAS NEVER FINISHED, WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING GIVEN THE MANY RABBIT TRAILS IT FOLLOWED IN ITS SHORT LIFE. NEVERTHELESS, I POSTED IT.
Please note that just now I thought someone was walking up the stairs in my flat but the banging continued much longer than a staircase would. Am I startled? No. This is just part of living in a residence that has actually been turned into at least 4 separate collections of flatmates. Hopefully they are all taking their trash out this week, because the area by the stairwell is really beginning to become unpleasant. Also, while I am off topic, I am enjoying the tc show Community more than I thought I would, thanks to the Abed character...And I have beaten Branson at Settlers of Catan 4 out of the last 6 times. Lastly, on the site I watch tv on, an ad just popped up saying: ANSWER TO WIN A GREEN CARD TO THE USA-Who is the US President? followed by pictures of George W Bush, Obama and Hilary Clinton.
Sarah got in on Thursday and I met her at the Edinburgh Airport. I had gotten her a ridiculous plaid viking hat, complete with red faux velvet horns and orange beribboned braids, which I planned to present to her while smiling and hugging her hello. Instead, I stampeded across the area around the baggage claim wearing the hat so that the first sight she had of me was a bouncing plaid horned attacker. She loved it. The guy at the help desk looked incredibly awkward since we met up two feet in front of him. We dropped off her luggage at the station in the city and headed to lunch at Whiski's. We were not even out of the train station when I turned around to find her wearing the kind of mask that (reportedly) my Gramma wears around babies and Asians wear in subways. I recognize the inappropriateness of this comment. It is not my own but I cannot state the original source. This swine flu mask coupled with myself in the Viking hat drew enough attention, but being who we are, it felt oddly normal and most of the attention was positive, such as people shouting at us: Hey SARS isn't here, ok?! I introduced Sarah to haggis for the first time, stacked atop tatties and neeps in a beautiful display of the offul that it is. It was delicious. She was able to say to me "have some more haggis!" in a context where it was completely understandable, and that doesn't happen anywhere but Scotland. After lunch, we made the trek up to the castle-not paying to go inside of course since that's not our style, but taking enough pictures....
PLEASE NOTE: THIS POST WAS NEVER FINISHED, WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING GIVEN THE MANY RABBIT TRAILS IT FOLLOWED IN ITS SHORT LIFE. NEVERTHELESS, I POSTED IT.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
I'm engaged!
I think it’s about time I blog again and what better reason to do it than that I am the happiest luckiest girl in the world because Branson Blackburn proposed to me? I know most people know the story already but I wanted to make sure to get it all down for myself at least, so that I do not forget the precious little parts.
Branson came to Scotland to visit me on March 6th after two months apart and I was only at the airport two hours early or so, I was so ready. Watching him walk out the gate and knowing he was actually here and finally getting to see and experience everything I’ve been living and telling him about for months now was such a relief and so exciting at the same time. Mind you, his excitement wasn’t quite enough to combat the exhaustion and the kid missed every bit of the scenery on the train to St Andrews because he was passed out with his mouth wide open the whole ride. We took a taxi from the train station and collapsed in the flat doing nothing for a little while so that he could have some recovery time. That night was his first flatmate dinner, which was a wonderful multicultural feast, thanks to my wonderful roommates. We had French foie gras, German potato cakes (kartoffelpuffer), Canadian mashed spuds decorated with maple glazed carrots to look like the Canadian flag (because I live with a mad patriotic Canadian), a British main of beef soaked in beer and topped with baked baguette then my layer cake courtesy of marthastewart.com of course. I thought Branson would be overwhelmed at first but he settled right into the ridiculous dynamics, throwing in his misogynistic jokes much to Paige’s chagrin. At one point that night, Tom pulled Branson aside and the two of them disappeared somewhere quite suspiciously, which I assumed was Tom asking Branson if he needed a photographer for the proposal since they knew as much as I did…that the idea was it was going to happen at some point in the week. I cannot tell you how hard it was not to go digging around for the ring. Not to see it, just to know if it was there. The two of them came back after apparently discussing Aristophanes, which makes perfect sense. I had sent out an invite for a huge bonfire that night for everyone I knew and anyone they wanted to bring so after dinner we went rummaging about for palets and caravanned down to the beach Castle Sands to destroy some palets for fire wood. Unfortunately, the beach had been claimed by some juvenile delinquents, one of whom almost nailed Tom in the head with a bottle unintentionally which just riled him up and meant we weren’t starting the fire until they left. This did not happen because the dang mongrels never left. Branson and I climbed up on the cliff over the sea that is a part of the castle fortress and sat there with our feet over the edge listening to the waves and looking up at the wonderfully clear sky and it was perfect. The bonfire was a huge success with people none of us knew came just because they saw a bonfire and heard a guitar and next thing we knew they were singing along with songs Tom had written and helping people who had never had s’mores to make them. It was the perfect introduction to the ridiculous but endearing community that is St Andrews.
The next day we were supposed to go to church at St. Salvator’s but Branson wouldn’t have survived getting up and sitting on one of the old fashioned wooden pews I don’t think, so we had an independent devotional and prayer time with each other and I made English muffins with fried eggs and Canadian bacon and yogurt parfaits, so we got to have a wonderful Sunday brunch, then walked the pier and had the most beautiful view of St Andrews, with the castle and cathedral at sunset and I could watch Branson start to fall in love with it like I have. The best part looking back now is that he spent quite a little while walking around the castle just looking at it from the outside since we weren’t going in yet. Little did I know he was actually scouting it out in the daylight to plan for the proposal!!
That night, a bunch of us were having dinner because our friend Tai was in town and made us a delicious pasta dish. We’d been sitting around for a while talking about sneaking in to the castle ruins that overlook the sea near my house. I’d told Branson that we could sneak in one night if we wanted to and we’d decided to do it that night. While we were sitting there, Tom asked Tai if he wanted to come have a smoke on the “porch”. Then he asked Branson if he’d like a smoke, at which point I definitively rebuked him and told him to stop trying to corrupt my boyfriend. Branson laughed and said no and so Tom and Tai headed out. This was their code, developed at some unknown point in the day, for signaling that Tom and Tai were going to go sneak into the castle and position themselves at a good vantage point for photos. Soon after, Branson and I went to put on warm layers to go sneak in ourselves, and I changed out of my cute outfit for comfort’s sake, not guessing what lay ahead. We dashed off to the castle, hopped over the little wooden fence and ran across the riskiest of expanses, the rolling green that was mostly in the light of the nearby street lamp post, and darted through a little archway into the grounds of what was once inside the castle. It was wonderful running around in there like children, holding hands until Branson decided to scale a wall like Spiderman to see if he could get up on the tower. I was frustrated with him for this until I walked around the castle and found a perfect little staircase, unblocked so that I was able to just trot up there. The view of the sea from the tower was beautiful and the night was moonless so it took a while for our eyes to adjust, but it was like being in another world. I wanted to take pictures but was so nervous about getting caught by someone spotting the flashes that I only got a few. Then I heard something. A distinct footstep just below us in the main opening of the ruins. Very close by. I began to freak out, crouched down and got into a corner, trying to pull Branson down with me. I was a tad irrational, saying things like “We’re being hunted,” “We will just have to camp out up here since we have the obvious advantage of higher ground,” and “There’s only one entrance for them to get to us by”. Since I knew that whoever was down there had heard us but hadn’t said anything, it was very unnerving and suspicious to me and I obviously wanted to exercise extreme caution. Instead, Branson pulled me up into an alcove of the tower to look out over the sea and I began to question his line of logic, since obviously this meant that whoever was hunting us had an easy view of our silhouettes against the night sky. I was about to explain this to him when I leaned in and felt his heart beating very rapidly. I was suddenly amused at the idea that he was just as scared as I was of this unknown predator, but didn’t want to admit or show it. With this in mind, I smiled up at him smugly and asked why his heart was beating so hard. All I remember of his response is that his eyes got really big, he backed up, then went down on one knee and took something out of his pocket that it was too dark to see. I started shaking and thought he must be joking, but then he said to me “You’re the love of my life, will you marry me?” I started breathing again when I said “yes, of course!” and nothing else, because in that moment, eloquence evaded me. I think the moment spoke eloquently enough for itself. He picked me up and we hugged and laughed at me for being so scared as he turned around and called out to my flatmates that they could come out now. At this point, I told him he better get back and put that ring on my finger, so he took it out of it’s box. Then I heard a musical “clink, clink, clink!” of the ring falling onto the stone. We managed to find it, so my first glimpse was in the starlight between stones of the castle tower floor. I think it was perfect. I was ridiculously giddy and hugged all my friends and they had brought a bottle of very nice champagne, so they all climbed up in the tower and we sat around and celebrated and took pictures. It was the best night of my life to this point and I will never forget it. Pure magic.
Branson came to Scotland to visit me on March 6th after two months apart and I was only at the airport two hours early or so, I was so ready. Watching him walk out the gate and knowing he was actually here and finally getting to see and experience everything I’ve been living and telling him about for months now was such a relief and so exciting at the same time. Mind you, his excitement wasn’t quite enough to combat the exhaustion and the kid missed every bit of the scenery on the train to St Andrews because he was passed out with his mouth wide open the whole ride. We took a taxi from the train station and collapsed in the flat doing nothing for a little while so that he could have some recovery time. That night was his first flatmate dinner, which was a wonderful multicultural feast, thanks to my wonderful roommates. We had French foie gras, German potato cakes (kartoffelpuffer), Canadian mashed spuds decorated with maple glazed carrots to look like the Canadian flag (because I live with a mad patriotic Canadian), a British main of beef soaked in beer and topped with baked baguette then my layer cake courtesy of marthastewart.com of course. I thought Branson would be overwhelmed at first but he settled right into the ridiculous dynamics, throwing in his misogynistic jokes much to Paige’s chagrin. At one point that night, Tom pulled Branson aside and the two of them disappeared somewhere quite suspiciously, which I assumed was Tom asking Branson if he needed a photographer for the proposal since they knew as much as I did…that the idea was it was going to happen at some point in the week. I cannot tell you how hard it was not to go digging around for the ring. Not to see it, just to know if it was there. The two of them came back after apparently discussing Aristophanes, which makes perfect sense. I had sent out an invite for a huge bonfire that night for everyone I knew and anyone they wanted to bring so after dinner we went rummaging about for palets and caravanned down to the beach Castle Sands to destroy some palets for fire wood. Unfortunately, the beach had been claimed by some juvenile delinquents, one of whom almost nailed Tom in the head with a bottle unintentionally which just riled him up and meant we weren’t starting the fire until they left. This did not happen because the dang mongrels never left. Branson and I climbed up on the cliff over the sea that is a part of the castle fortress and sat there with our feet over the edge listening to the waves and looking up at the wonderfully clear sky and it was perfect. The bonfire was a huge success with people none of us knew came just because they saw a bonfire and heard a guitar and next thing we knew they were singing along with songs Tom had written and helping people who had never had s’mores to make them. It was the perfect introduction to the ridiculous but endearing community that is St Andrews.
The next day we were supposed to go to church at St. Salvator’s but Branson wouldn’t have survived getting up and sitting on one of the old fashioned wooden pews I don’t think, so we had an independent devotional and prayer time with each other and I made English muffins with fried eggs and Canadian bacon and yogurt parfaits, so we got to have a wonderful Sunday brunch, then walked the pier and had the most beautiful view of St Andrews, with the castle and cathedral at sunset and I could watch Branson start to fall in love with it like I have. The best part looking back now is that he spent quite a little while walking around the castle just looking at it from the outside since we weren’t going in yet. Little did I know he was actually scouting it out in the daylight to plan for the proposal!!
That night, a bunch of us were having dinner because our friend Tai was in town and made us a delicious pasta dish. We’d been sitting around for a while talking about sneaking in to the castle ruins that overlook the sea near my house. I’d told Branson that we could sneak in one night if we wanted to and we’d decided to do it that night. While we were sitting there, Tom asked Tai if he wanted to come have a smoke on the “porch”. Then he asked Branson if he’d like a smoke, at which point I definitively rebuked him and told him to stop trying to corrupt my boyfriend. Branson laughed and said no and so Tom and Tai headed out. This was their code, developed at some unknown point in the day, for signaling that Tom and Tai were going to go sneak into the castle and position themselves at a good vantage point for photos. Soon after, Branson and I went to put on warm layers to go sneak in ourselves, and I changed out of my cute outfit for comfort’s sake, not guessing what lay ahead. We dashed off to the castle, hopped over the little wooden fence and ran across the riskiest of expanses, the rolling green that was mostly in the light of the nearby street lamp post, and darted through a little archway into the grounds of what was once inside the castle. It was wonderful running around in there like children, holding hands until Branson decided to scale a wall like Spiderman to see if he could get up on the tower. I was frustrated with him for this until I walked around the castle and found a perfect little staircase, unblocked so that I was able to just trot up there. The view of the sea from the tower was beautiful and the night was moonless so it took a while for our eyes to adjust, but it was like being in another world. I wanted to take pictures but was so nervous about getting caught by someone spotting the flashes that I only got a few. Then I heard something. A distinct footstep just below us in the main opening of the ruins. Very close by. I began to freak out, crouched down and got into a corner, trying to pull Branson down with me. I was a tad irrational, saying things like “We’re being hunted,” “We will just have to camp out up here since we have the obvious advantage of higher ground,” and “There’s only one entrance for them to get to us by”. Since I knew that whoever was down there had heard us but hadn’t said anything, it was very unnerving and suspicious to me and I obviously wanted to exercise extreme caution. Instead, Branson pulled me up into an alcove of the tower to look out over the sea and I began to question his line of logic, since obviously this meant that whoever was hunting us had an easy view of our silhouettes against the night sky. I was about to explain this to him when I leaned in and felt his heart beating very rapidly. I was suddenly amused at the idea that he was just as scared as I was of this unknown predator, but didn’t want to admit or show it. With this in mind, I smiled up at him smugly and asked why his heart was beating so hard. All I remember of his response is that his eyes got really big, he backed up, then went down on one knee and took something out of his pocket that it was too dark to see. I started shaking and thought he must be joking, but then he said to me “You’re the love of my life, will you marry me?” I started breathing again when I said “yes, of course!” and nothing else, because in that moment, eloquence evaded me. I think the moment spoke eloquently enough for itself. He picked me up and we hugged and laughed at me for being so scared as he turned around and called out to my flatmates that they could come out now. At this point, I told him he better get back and put that ring on my finger, so he took it out of it’s box. Then I heard a musical “clink, clink, clink!” of the ring falling onto the stone. We managed to find it, so my first glimpse was in the starlight between stones of the castle tower floor. I think it was perfect. I was ridiculously giddy and hugged all my friends and they had brought a bottle of very nice champagne, so they all climbed up in the tower and we sat around and celebrated and took pictures. It was the best night of my life to this point and I will never forget it. Pure magic.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
If we were children I would bake you a mud pie
There are ups and downs to being in St. Andrews at this particular point in my life. I love this place and this life and learning, and I love knowing that I can look back at the time and never wonder what if? Or feel that I missed out on something. I am living a wonderfully full and beautiful life. But I hate that I missed my dad meeting Branson's parents and that I am not there to see my sister come into her own in college. I miss the comfortable people that create home in Texas.
I realized the other day that I deeply miss the people I love, but I am beginning to love the person I am. I would rather spend every day with my Gramma this week, than people my own age. I feel out of my element with 20 somethings who like to party...when I like to pretty much spend my time on my own around here. I have not yet figured out why this is, or if it is something that I need to work on. I can see it being a positive thing if I have some sort of creative outlet or am getting good grades, but m only creative outlet is DABS drawing group with the Bell-Pettigrew Society (so with other people) and the Fine Food and Dining Society's Come Dine With Me dinner party competition (also with other people). I think I need to do the Coastal Walk..just get more fresh air. If only the air weren't so cold.
On a side note, three things I have learned recently: "Fancy dress" over here does not mean what we call fancy clothes...it means costumes. I made this mistake when I dressed up in a cute silk dress underneath my garbagewoman costume because we were supposed to dress in "fancy dress" as what we want to be when we grew up for one of my dinner parties. I learned that I like mussels, in their Moules Marinieres form, and that to eat one, you use an empty shell as pincers. Finally, I learned that they do in fact still use boilers for heat and hot water over here. So you do not want your boiler to die...or you just might as well.
I also love the new A Fine Frenzy, A Bomb in a Birdcage, the Mumford and Sons group, and Katie Herzig and would highly recommend them.
I realized the other day that I deeply miss the people I love, but I am beginning to love the person I am. I would rather spend every day with my Gramma this week, than people my own age. I feel out of my element with 20 somethings who like to party...when I like to pretty much spend my time on my own around here. I have not yet figured out why this is, or if it is something that I need to work on. I can see it being a positive thing if I have some sort of creative outlet or am getting good grades, but m only creative outlet is DABS drawing group with the Bell-Pettigrew Society (so with other people) and the Fine Food and Dining Society's Come Dine With Me dinner party competition (also with other people). I think I need to do the Coastal Walk..just get more fresh air. If only the air weren't so cold.
On a side note, three things I have learned recently: "Fancy dress" over here does not mean what we call fancy clothes...it means costumes. I made this mistake when I dressed up in a cute silk dress underneath my garbagewoman costume because we were supposed to dress in "fancy dress" as what we want to be when we grew up for one of my dinner parties. I learned that I like mussels, in their Moules Marinieres form, and that to eat one, you use an empty shell as pincers. Finally, I learned that they do in fact still use boilers for heat and hot water over here. So you do not want your boiler to die...or you just might as well.
I also love the new A Fine Frenzy, A Bomb in a Birdcage, the Mumford and Sons group, and Katie Herzig and would highly recommend them.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
I'll be 23, amazing still it seems. Jimmy Eat World could not have been more right.
Yesterday was my birthday and most of it was miserable. Then my exam was over at 5 and it was wonderful from then on. I came home to the most wonderful package from my mom and Miz Nancy, and then had 20 people at my birthday dinner! We had a wonderful meal, then I bought everyone Cadbury eggs to celebrate and was able to make it a pretty early night since today I fly out to Belfast!
I am still not recovered from exams and now our shower has no hot water at all. It's freezing and stays freezing, so i am putting off the shower until the hostel in Ireland tonight. yay. Paige and I did go to Northpoint for pancakes and hot chocolate this morning, though, so that made everything a little more bearable. Anyhow, in honor of my birthday, I blog today about ten of the ways that I've changed since getting here. Hopefully I will be able to blog while in Belfast as well. Enjoy!
1.I eat a LOT of cheese.
2.When in America or Switzerland I have an irresistible desire to shower not once, but twice a day.
3.I now know what capers and scallions are.
4.My laundry detergent is called “Automatic Biological Washing Powder”. Can you tell it’s generic?
5.I can use cathedral ruins or a castle as landmarks when telling people how to get to my house, depending on whether they are coming from North Street or The Scores , respectively.
6.I collect aprons and tea cups as if it’s a disorder.
7.I have a computer charger, blowdryer, and straightener built for UK sockets.
8.My flatmate said that she could not imagine how anyone could find me to be difficult. Without a note of sarcasm.
9.I live without air-conditioning, and get heat from water in an ancient-looking contraption.
10.I drink my tea with a spot of milk and half teaspoon of sugar, not iced with a cup of sugar.
What has not changed is that I love and miss you all.
K
I am still not recovered from exams and now our shower has no hot water at all. It's freezing and stays freezing, so i am putting off the shower until the hostel in Ireland tonight. yay. Paige and I did go to Northpoint for pancakes and hot chocolate this morning, though, so that made everything a little more bearable. Anyhow, in honor of my birthday, I blog today about ten of the ways that I've changed since getting here. Hopefully I will be able to blog while in Belfast as well. Enjoy!
1.I eat a LOT of cheese.
2.When in America or Switzerland I have an irresistible desire to shower not once, but twice a day.
3.I now know what capers and scallions are.
4.My laundry detergent is called “Automatic Biological Washing Powder”. Can you tell it’s generic?
5.I can use cathedral ruins or a castle as landmarks when telling people how to get to my house, depending on whether they are coming from North Street or The Scores , respectively.
6.I collect aprons and tea cups as if it’s a disorder.
7.I have a computer charger, blowdryer, and straightener built for UK sockets.
8.My flatmate said that she could not imagine how anyone could find me to be difficult. Without a note of sarcasm.
9.I live without air-conditioning, and get heat from water in an ancient-looking contraption.
10.I drink my tea with a spot of milk and half teaspoon of sugar, not iced with a cup of sugar.
What has not changed is that I love and miss you all.
K
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Procrastination means two pathetic pillows.
A Friday night in St Andrews is leaving your flat to walk to the library at 9 o'clock at night to pring out exam study materials, and being passed by an Audi limousine, blasting some sort of techno music gently within its auspiciously haughty self. I would not be at all surprised if Prince William had been inside. Thank goodness I was wearing my color coordinated scarf and hat courtesy of my Gramma with a nice coat to hide he faded DARE t-shirt underneath. Just in case I've been glimpsed by royalty I mean.
I finally broke down yesterday afternoon and went into Ponden Mill to buy myself what appeared to be a very fluffy pillow on sale for 6 pounds, and a new bath mat just to be extra domestic. Opaque-plastic-packaged pillows are not always what they seem as it turns out, and I have taken my semi-understanding of the English language for granted by failing to read the description. Inside that wrapping were two very flat pillows, exactly like the one I found on my bed upon arriving here in October and have been sleeping on ever since. Honestly, sometimes I don't realize it has, in fact, fallen off the bed. It is that flat. Needless to say I will attempt to return these two sad jokes for one good pillow.
That's what I get for going pillow shopping when I should be studying for exams. On a much more positive note: For those of you who asked about Scotland and heard more than you'd ever want to hear about how awful my shower is--I had a wonderful shower this morning, hot AND with water pressure. This put me in an unusually good mood, and inspired me to blog. When I should be studying for exams.
I return to the End of History now. I cannot wait.
I finally broke down yesterday afternoon and went into Ponden Mill to buy myself what appeared to be a very fluffy pillow on sale for 6 pounds, and a new bath mat just to be extra domestic. Opaque-plastic-packaged pillows are not always what they seem as it turns out, and I have taken my semi-understanding of the English language for granted by failing to read the description. Inside that wrapping were two very flat pillows, exactly like the one I found on my bed upon arriving here in October and have been sleeping on ever since. Honestly, sometimes I don't realize it has, in fact, fallen off the bed. It is that flat. Needless to say I will attempt to return these two sad jokes for one good pillow.
That's what I get for going pillow shopping when I should be studying for exams. On a much more positive note: For those of you who asked about Scotland and heard more than you'd ever want to hear about how awful my shower is--I had a wonderful shower this morning, hot AND with water pressure. This put me in an unusually good mood, and inspired me to blog. When I should be studying for exams.
I return to the End of History now. I cannot wait.
Monday, 11 January 2010
My Fearless Dragon Necklace
Today I put on the Dogeared dragon necklace my daddy picked out for me for Christmas. It's part of their collection where each necklace has a meaning, like Willow tree dolls-you just can't ever have too many.It's meaning is Fearless, and its card tells you to put it on and remind yourself that you have nothing to fear. So I took it out of it's little bag for the first time and put it on before I began to study this morning at 7 a.m. for the 7th straight day in a row. My first St Andrews exam was today and I prepared with the dragon around my neck, literally and metaphorically I suppose I could say, and the little card that came with the necklace next to my pages and pages of notes. It worked. I forgot my fear.
Until after my first essay when I realized I had used up half of the three hours I had for three essays. So yes, I feel like my first essay was strong. I hope that my next two are legible. It is wonderful to have it behind me now, and I have a much more solid idea of what to expect for next Monday. Did I tell you that they told us this would be the last year that post-grad IR students would have to take exams?? I did? Well it is.
So I came home, after stopping for three sugar free chocolates to reward myself...and aid my digestion as it turns out. I came home expecting my new computer charger to be waiting for me so that I could have a mindless evening of skype, online television, and games to recuperate before starting in again for the next exam. My computer cord was not there. I ate all three chocolates and laid down on my bed surrounded by coffee cups and papers that reminded me of my awful handwriting on the exam and felt pathetic. Until I remembered my kindle. That precious little companion. I bought Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and didn't look back. I don't care what all of you people say about the hype and let down. I don't regret it, it was like a lazy massage for my brain. Then I came to the library to return some books I forgot to return this afternoon, and got online to find carb/sugar free pumpkin pie recipe! Just canned pumpkin and cream cheese basically. So the post-exam evening has redeemed itself and I MIIIIIIGHT get to go to vienna with my best friend before next semester starts, so I am going to keep my fingers crossed and get on easyjet.com
Miss you guys...and french fries.
Until after my first essay when I realized I had used up half of the three hours I had for three essays. So yes, I feel like my first essay was strong. I hope that my next two are legible. It is wonderful to have it behind me now, and I have a much more solid idea of what to expect for next Monday. Did I tell you that they told us this would be the last year that post-grad IR students would have to take exams?? I did? Well it is.
So I came home, after stopping for three sugar free chocolates to reward myself...and aid my digestion as it turns out. I came home expecting my new computer charger to be waiting for me so that I could have a mindless evening of skype, online television, and games to recuperate before starting in again for the next exam. My computer cord was not there. I ate all three chocolates and laid down on my bed surrounded by coffee cups and papers that reminded me of my awful handwriting on the exam and felt pathetic. Until I remembered my kindle. That precious little companion. I bought Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and didn't look back. I don't care what all of you people say about the hype and let down. I don't regret it, it was like a lazy massage for my brain. Then I came to the library to return some books I forgot to return this afternoon, and got online to find carb/sugar free pumpkin pie recipe! Just canned pumpkin and cream cheese basically. So the post-exam evening has redeemed itself and I MIIIIIIGHT get to go to vienna with my best friend before next semester starts, so I am going to keep my fingers crossed and get on easyjet.com
Miss you guys...and french fries.
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Patrick Hamilton Burned Here
I remembered to walk around the PH initials in the cobblestone on my way to the library tonight, even though they were hidden beneath snow. There are cobblestones around St Andrews that mark places where Protestant martyrs were burnt at the stake. The PH stones outside St Salvators, just before you turn the path for the awful library, mark where Patrick Hamilton was burnt alive. Traditionally, if you step on these stones, you will fail your degree. The remedy is to either run completely into the North Sea for the May Dip (and no, people do not dip in the North Sea for fun even on a summer day), or to walk around the pole on the end of the pier 3 times. Mind you, I have already stepped on these stones as their power was unbeknownst to me upon my arrival, so I will be doing the May Dip regardless. But tonight, tired and freezing and blind to the presence of the stones on my late night begrudging trek to the library, I realized after I passed them, that I had sub-consciously deliberately sidestepped them...any deliberate sub-conscious act is possible. I believe I am settling into this funny little town.
It's been snowing for days. This magical factor made my transition into being an ocean away from family and boy a little more bearable. Today, I walked down the Lade Braes taking pictures and successfully slid down a frighteningly steep hill that I was intimidated by but masked my fears well in front of the 3 little people in poofy snowsuits that were probably quite young (not just insanely small adults) and who were all acting as if the dramatic incline and potential crash into a tree or playground equipment were nothing. They eyed my little cookie sheet as if it must be a joke, but I proved them wrong. By screaming as I flew down the 5 foot hill to the bottom. It was a beautiful walk and a beautiful feeling. It was also a welcome but not needed escape from my studies for my first exam on Monday. Yes our exams are a month after classes ended. No I do not remember anything.
I noticed right before my return that I apparently behaved as a bear preparing for hibernation in the winter over Christmas break. If that were the case, I would be an ignorant bear since obviously I should already be hibernating by Christmas, but nonetheless, while it has served me well in this excessively cold barren land, the carbs and chocolate must stop. Bears don't eat either of those things anyway unless its by accident, or in the stomach of a hiker that came to close to a cub. So I am eating lots of meat, nuts, and greenery. I've been living this way for 6 days now. Days 1-2: I felt proud, certain and idealistic. Days 3-5: I hated everything. Day 6: I discovered Cadbury Eggs have finally made their appearance on this island. I ate one. But only one.
By the way, Cadbury cream eggs from the USA are the sad stepbrother of the true Cadbury chocolate cream eggs of their homeland. I will ship some home to be kept cryogenically for my return. As for my other meals today, I thought of that cream egg while I ate leek soup over cauliflower and parsnips, a salad with oil and vinegar, and grapefruit for a snack. The upside is that I recently discovered that the cheesemonger on south street sells fresh Jersey milk in bottles! this is something i can get excited about consuming.
I bought a teapot that looks like a castle. With a tiny british flag and little soldier heads in the windows. Goodwill shops here are full of treasures.
love you people. you few who remember i have a blog and check it occasionally...every three months or so. i love you.
It's been snowing for days. This magical factor made my transition into being an ocean away from family and boy a little more bearable. Today, I walked down the Lade Braes taking pictures and successfully slid down a frighteningly steep hill that I was intimidated by but masked my fears well in front of the 3 little people in poofy snowsuits that were probably quite young (not just insanely small adults) and who were all acting as if the dramatic incline and potential crash into a tree or playground equipment were nothing. They eyed my little cookie sheet as if it must be a joke, but I proved them wrong. By screaming as I flew down the 5 foot hill to the bottom. It was a beautiful walk and a beautiful feeling. It was also a welcome but not needed escape from my studies for my first exam on Monday. Yes our exams are a month after classes ended. No I do not remember anything.
I noticed right before my return that I apparently behaved as a bear preparing for hibernation in the winter over Christmas break. If that were the case, I would be an ignorant bear since obviously I should already be hibernating by Christmas, but nonetheless, while it has served me well in this excessively cold barren land, the carbs and chocolate must stop. Bears don't eat either of those things anyway unless its by accident, or in the stomach of a hiker that came to close to a cub. So I am eating lots of meat, nuts, and greenery. I've been living this way for 6 days now. Days 1-2: I felt proud, certain and idealistic. Days 3-5: I hated everything. Day 6: I discovered Cadbury Eggs have finally made their appearance on this island. I ate one. But only one.
By the way, Cadbury cream eggs from the USA are the sad stepbrother of the true Cadbury chocolate cream eggs of their homeland. I will ship some home to be kept cryogenically for my return. As for my other meals today, I thought of that cream egg while I ate leek soup over cauliflower and parsnips, a salad with oil and vinegar, and grapefruit for a snack. The upside is that I recently discovered that the cheesemonger on south street sells fresh Jersey milk in bottles! this is something i can get excited about consuming.
I bought a teapot that looks like a castle. With a tiny british flag and little soldier heads in the windows. Goodwill shops here are full of treasures.
love you people. you few who remember i have a blog and check it occasionally...every three months or so. i love you.
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